


The Lost Chapter

by enderstorm



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), Steven Universe: The Phantom Fable
Genre: And kind of make up, And save that Pearl, Gen, I JUST FEEL SO BAD FOR HER, IT LEGIT MADE ME CRY, One Shot, Pearl and Lapis bond, Sad, Sad Ending, please no spoilers for the rest of the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-01-25 22:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18584161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enderstorm/pseuds/enderstorm
Summary: Pearl is haunted by her experience trapped inside the Tome. She desperately wants to rescue the lonely Pearl that was trapped somewhere out there, and fortunately, she knows someone who can relate.





	The Lost Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> I recommend having either played or seen Steven Universe: The Phantom Fable for any of this story to make sense. It takes place immediately after having rescued Pearl, but before Garnet or Amethyst.  
> Also, I haven't actually... finished the game yet, so please no spoilers.
> 
> You can get the game on iOS or Android, probably. I was able to get it but a lot of people are complaining about it not being available in their country, so YMMV.

“Pearl, are you okay?” Steven asked.  
  
No. No, Pearl wasn’t okay.  
  
The evil book that Rose had said she’d destroyed had resurfaced again, and trapped Pearl and the Crystal Gems inside the pages. There wasn’t much that could faze Garnet, and Amethyst had never been exposed to Homeworld, so most context would go over her head, but Pearl…  
  
Pearl had been trapped, forced to watch a lonely, abandoned Pearl wander the halls, calling out for her owners that would never come _because they left her there._ They left her alone, forced to clean the halls for eternity.  
  
Pearl couldn’t bear to see the Lonely Pearl. She had to… H-Had to…  
  
“Oh, Steven, I’m not okay…” She cried, taking several deep, shuddering breaths.  
  
Steven and Connie had both delved into the book to rescue her. They had yet to find the pages trapping either Garnet or Amethyst, yet, so as of right now, Pearl was alone.  
  
It all seemed so familiar…  
  
“Well, um…” Steven shifted on his feet awkwardly. “Connie and I were gonna go try and find either Garnet or Amethyst, but if you’re-”  
  
“No, Steven, don’t let me keep you.” Pearl sighed. “You have to go and save the two- er, three of them. If they’re trapped somewhere even half as bad as where I was…”  
  
“We’ll save them, ma’am!” Connie declared, gripping Rose’s sword maybe just a bit too tight, but at least her stance was correct. Pearl smiled. She’d trained that girl well.  
  
A Pearl. Giving fighting lessons.  
  
It would have never happened on Homeworld.  
  
Pearl waved as the two of them left, and she was alone, once again.  
  
She couldn’t take it much longer. That Pearl… she must feel far worse than Pearl does right now. She’s been alone for so long… too long.  
  
“Hey, uh…” Lapis tried to get her attention. “Are you okay? You were crying.”  
  
“...No.” Pearl sighed, though she hadn’t realised tears were flowing. She wiped them away, trying to stay strong. “...You know how you were trapped and abandoned for so long?”  
  
Lapis folded her arms and looked away. “Yeah. I’m aware.” She deadpanned.  
  
“...” Pearl looked away, too.  
  
“Oh, no.” Lapis sighed, coming to a realisation. “Pearl, what did you see in that book?”  
  
“...A Pearl. She was abandoned. She… She was abandoned when Homeworld left the research station. I-It isn’t fair, s-she… They just left her there! And… it felt so real, too…”  
  
“...Probably because it is.” Lapis said.  
  
“What?”  
  
“The Tomes were made to record history, in case someone needed to relive it. But after they were deemed too dangerous, I guess they just switched to using actual gems instead.” Lapis frowned.  
  
“S-So… That Pearl is out there?!” Pearl asked. “W-We have to save her!”  
  
“I… I don’t know, Pearl…” Lapis said. “This isn’t really something I…”  
  
“Please… She’s so alone. Trapped, just like you were…” Pearl begged. “You have to help me.”  
  
“Well…” Lapis looked apprehensive. “Maybe. How are you going to find her, though?”  
  
“...Do you know a Library Nine?” Pearl asked. “It was half flooded when I saw it, but…”  
  
“I do. It was a Blue court research station on Earth, but… I don’t know _where_ it is.” She admitted. “I was never meant to be on this planet long, after all. It wasn’t my business to know about places like that.”  
  
“Uh…” Peridot tried to squeeze into the conversation. “Can you describe this location, Pearl? I might know.”  
  
“The architecture pre-dated the rebellion, I know that. It was mostly flooded and overgrown, but water was definitely a feature. The base itself was referred to as Library Nine, but the area outside seemed like an acropolis.” Pearl answered. “Honestly, how would you know, Peridot? This is Era 1.”  
  
“I was given a mission briefing when I was assigned to this planet, and that included a list of old Homeworld bases to avoid at any cost.” Peridot explained. “Given the nature of the research on the Tome, and the reputation it held, it seems logical to conclude that Homeworld did not want me going near there, and that this Library was one of those bases.”  
  
If Garnet were here it would be much easier. But… she isn’t.  
  
“Well… do you remember any of those locations?” Pearl asked?  
  
“A few, but one did stand out, because the Blue court had very few research bases, especially not ones marked as ‘dangerous’.” Peridot said. “I can narrow it down to a few locations, but…”  
  
“Show me.” Lapis said. “Pearl… I have an idea.”

* * *

 

It turns out Lapis’ idea was to fly up to the moon base and use the colony’s observation orb to scout the areas first. Why Lapis knew of the orb in the first place, Pearl had no idea, but she supposed it did make everything easier.  
  
They had first tried bribing Lion to warp them up there, but Pearl lacked Steven’s… charm with the beast. Though, really, he barely listened to _him_ , either.  
  
So Lapis proposed carrying Pearl up to the moon base, as awkward as it was for the both of them. Neither of them seemed thrilled about having to hold hands, but since Pearl couldn’t fly by herself, Lapis carrying her was really the only choice they had.  
  
“Take my hands.” Lapis said.  
  
“You’re not going to let me fall, are you?” Pearl asked, a tiny, joking smile on her face. It wasn’t that funny, to be honest. With how Lapis seemed to treat the Crystal Gems, it was a genuine concern.  
  
“No, but only because Steven would be heartbroken if you did.” Lapis frowned. “Look, I’m not doing this for you, Pearl. I just… I don’t want anyone else to suffer, alone and forgotten by Homeworld like I was.”  
  
“...Yeah.” Pearl sighed, taking Lapis’ hands. For a brief moment, she blushed, and there was a silence, almost a mutual understanding between them. But it abruptly ended when Lapis yanked Pearl into the air, propelling her wings as fast as she could.  
  
Even with the added baggage dangling from her hands, Lapis appreciated the freedom. When she carried Steven, she had to watch her speed, certain that going too fast would cause his organic body to flatten from the G-force. There was no such threat of that happening with another Gem, though.  
  
“It’s beautiful up here.” Pearl remarked as they exited the atmosphere.  
  
“I guess.” Lapis shrugged, as well as she could while holding Pearl. She’d seen better views, and besides, she could witness this view whenever she wished.  
  
They were still an hour away from the moon, even for as fast as Lapis flew. Awkward silence wasn’t a very appealing pastime, but…  
  
“Ugh…” Lapis sighed. She should have brought Steven. He would have been a good bridge between the two gems. Or even Peridot, actually. Lapis could have easily been a silent third wheel while the two of them argued. It would have been better than… nothing at all.  
  
...Lapis still doesn’t fully trust Pearl. And similarly, Pearl feels a measure of guilt about Lapis.  
  
Looking down at Pearl’s face, the Blue gem could see that she was deep in thought, once again trying not to cry.  
  
“I wonder if she’s ever seen the sky…” Pearl asked out loud, talking to no one in particular. She wasn’t paying much attention to anything, not even Lapis’ staring, or-  
  
“Woah, gotcha.” Lapis sighed in relief, quickly catching Pearl’s hands as they absently slipped out of her grasp.  
  
“Sorry… I was just… Thinking about…”  
  
“Pearl.” Lapis said. “We’ll save her.”  
  
“I know, it’s just…” Pearl took a deep breath and let it out. Humans liked to meditate like that, sometimes. “You know how Homeworld treats Pearls.”  
  
“Like objects. I know.” Lapis said, her voice a little angrier. “Just things for them to use and throw away. _Believe me_ , Pearl, I know exactly what that feels like.”  
  
“Lapis… …I’m sorry.” Pearl sniffled. “But how were we supposed to know you were alive in that mirror? You were cracked, and there was corruption, and… gem powered objects aren’t even supposed to be sapient.  
  
“I know. You thought I was just an _object_ , too.” Lapis said, though with no malice. Just… tired resignation.  
  
“Lapis, really. I’m sorry.”  
  
“...Yeah.” Lapis sighed, looking away from Pearl. “I want to save her as much as you. I understand exactly what she’s been through.”

* * *

“Well… we’re here.” Lapis announced. “You did bring Peridot’s map, right?”  
  
“Yes, of course.” Pearl replied, pulling the world map out of her gem. It had green crayon circles dotted around various continents, highlighting possible locations that they should scan.  
  
Lapis spent an uncomfortable amount of time looking at the mural of Blue Diamond, but eventually shook her head and followed Pearl up the steps. “How did you even find out about this?” Pearl asked.  
  
“What, the spire? Every colony has one, Pearl.”  
  
“No, the observation orb.” Pearl clarified. “They’re not common knowledge.”  
  
“Oh… I stopped by after Steven healed me. I wanted to see if he was alright after I… let him fall.” Lapis said. “I’ve seen moon spires on other colonies, even before I’d ever been to this one. I knew it’d have an orb, it wasn’t exactly new technology.”  
  
“...Do you know how they work?” Pearl asked, sadly.  
  
“Yeah, you place your hand on-”  
  
“No, I meant… Much like your mirror, it uses a gem as its power source. In its case, a… Pearl. There’s no other way for it to project data like it does.”  
  
“...”  
  
They each stared at the orb, equal parts disgusted and afraid to touch it.  
  
“...”  
  
They knew they couldn’t get scared now, though. Pearl hesitantly reached out to place her hand on the orb, which didn’t immediately do anything. “Hm… I think the projector is damaged.” She said, crouching down and examining the orb closer.  
  
“What does that mean?” Lapis asked, anxiously. “Should we have brought Peridot?”  
  
“It’s not a problem. I can… act as the projector.” Pearl sighed, placing her hand on the orb again, this time projecting an image from her gem. “Rub your hand over the locations Peridot highlighted.” Pearl ordered. “I’ll see if any are a match.”  
  
“You’ve used this before, haven’t you? I mean, as a Pearl.”  
  
“Well… yes.” Pearl blushed. “That’s… not important, though.”  
  
Lapis shrugged, and begun navigating the image around. She scrubbed through the locations Peridot listed, and soon enough, they did find what they were looking for, but…  
  
“That’s it.” Pearl said. “It’s… even more damaged than it was in the Tome.”  
  
“Makes sense. I doubt the Tome’s records have been updated since the rebellion.”  
  
Pearl took her hand off the orb, an anxious feeling brewing inside her. She could finally go, and… and save her. “Let’s go, then. We should hurry. Steven may need me to help look for Garnet and Amethyst.”  
  
“And no doubt Peridot’s getting lonely…” Lapis said, grabbing Pearl’s arms and immediately speeding downstairs and back towards Earth. “Good thing we have gravity on our side, this time.” Lapis smirked, dispelling her wings and descending into a free fall towards Earth. Towards the ancient library the Pearl was trapped in.

* * *

“We’re here.” Pearl said, in a small, quiet voice. Like she couldn’t believe it. “We’re actually here.”  
  
“There are crystal shrimp all over the place.” Lapis grimaced. “This place is coming apart as is. A water attack would… uh, what are you doing?”  
  
“Steven tried this once over at the Lunar Sea Spire and it worked.” Pearl said, pulling a year-old packet of bagels out of her gem. She ripped it open and scattered them about, the shrimp instantly taking the bait. “I’ll never understand why they are drawn to Earth food.”  
  
“Say that again? The Lunar Sea Spire? It’s still standing?”  
  
“Oh… no, sorry. We were unable to bring the statue to it in time, so it crumbled…” Pearl sighed, omitting the fact that Steven forgot to even bring the statue in the first place. “It’s a shame, too… I was so looking forward to teaching Steven about some of the finer parts of gem culture, like simple gem havens…”  
  
Lapis looked around the decrepit, half flooded ruin of the library. “Not at all like this place.”  
  
“Yes… Let’s go. I remember the way. This is close to where the book deposited me.” Pearl said, setting off down the path, Lapis following close behind.  
  
“This is much easier when there are no puzzle elements arbitrarily placed down.” Pearl noted. “I think the Tome was trying to toy with me…”  
  
“It was known to do that. That’s part of why they stopped all research.” Lapis shrugged. “Still, though. Puzzles?”  
  
“In addition to enemies that would reappear whenever we left a ‘room’, the Tome would place arbitrary puzzle elements to block our progress.” Pearl grimaced. “...Now that I think about it, though, some of those puzzles would have been impossible for me to solve alone, had Steven not been there. Almost as though the Tome knew he would come…”  
  
“It was treating it all as some game.” Lapis realised, a scowl crossing her face. “I’m going to dunk that thing in the ocean.”  
  
Pearl laughed suddenly, startling Lapis. “Oh, don’t worry.” She chuckled. “I have a feeling Garnet will incinerate it in the burning room. After Steven finds her, that is.”  
  
“And once we find the Pearl.” Lapis said.  
  
“...Once we find the Pearl.” Pearl echoed, quietly. “Come on. It’s this way.”

* * *

“This is it. This is the entrance.” Pearl said, as the two of them arrived at the staircase leading to the library entrance.  
  
_You said you would come back for me…_ The memory of the lonely Pearl’s voice resonated in her head… She quickly blinked back tears, hurrying into the building.  
  
“Pearl, wait, there’s-”  
  
Pearl ran headfirst into a closed door that definitely wasn’t there in the Tome. Lapis winced at the sound of the impact, and flew over the steps to make sure she hadn’t hurt herself. Pearl ran her fingers over her gem, and luckily did not find any cracks. “It wasn’t closed before…”  
  
“The Tome must have opened it for you. Let’s see…” Lapis walked over to the door and brushed some moss off of it, exposing a hand panel, which lit up blue when she placed her hand on it.  
  
“I suppose I’m glad you’re here.” Pearl admitted. “I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you…”  
  
“Ugh…” Lapis sighed. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m doing this for the Pearl, and partly for Steven. I’m not-”  
  
“I know. You’re not a Crystal Gem.” Pearl smiled. “That’s fine.”  
  
“That too. But I’m _not_ doing this for you.”  
  
“...Let’s head inside.” Pearl said, after a brief silence.  
  
The door had been sealed for quite a long time, so when it opened, they were treated to the delightful smell of six thousand year old rotting, mouldy books.  
  
“Eugh.” Lapis recoiled. “This place _has_ to predate the colony.”  
  
“Goodness, I haven’t smelt anything that bad since Amethyst stank up the temple with that decade old burrito…” Pearl cringed, plugging her nose and soldiering onward. “It’s a wonder all these pages haven’t disintegrated. I would take a few books with me, but…”  
  
“Good luck finding any that don’t have fungus growing on them.” Lapis shivered.  
  
“We don’t have time, anyway. Though, we _should_ come back here once…” Pearl trailed off. “Lapis, I’ll need you to carry me. It will be more efficient.”  
  
“Sure, but… what exactly were they doing here?”  
  
“If you really want to know... ...Just on that island, there, is a terminal. I hope it’s still running…”  
  
“Alright. Let’s check it out, then.” Lapis said, taking Pearl by the wrists and flying over to the only active console. “Let’s see… ‘Research outpost Nine, head Epistolary. Progress on the last Tome has been halted until further notice, by order of the Authority.’ ...I wonder what caused the change?”  
  
“Keep reading…”  
  
“Okay. ‘I don’t understand. Perhaps the Diamonds are concerned about the Tome’s apparent… willfulness. But how did the Authority find out about the Tomes in the first place? If there’s a traitor among the Pearls I will be most displeased.’ ...Oh, no…”  
  
“...There’s a second entry.” Pearl said, quietly wiping the tears out of her eyes.  
  
“‘We are abandoning this facility. Work on the Tomes has been halted indefinitely. I believe this to be the cause of one of the servants, who has poisoned the Authority against the research here.’ Wait, so… then, this Pearl, she… she did her job properly. She informed the Diamonds of a potential danger to the Authority! Why did she get punished?!”  
  
Pearl continued reading for Lapis. “...There’s more. ‘An example must be made. She… She w-will be left here, sweeping dust and swatting at moths, awaiting a… return that will… n-never come… A traitor deserves nothing less…’”  
  
“No! That’s wrong! That shouldn’t be… This shouldn’t have happened, Pearl! This is… incredibly irregular! Whoever ran this facility…”  
  
Pearl tensed up. “Wait… did you hear that?”  
  
“Hear wha-” A giant white moth suddenly swooped down from the sky, knocking Pearl into the water and forcing Lapis to the ground. “Where did _that_ come from?” Lapis shouted.  
  
“I don’t know!” Pearl shouted back. “But if you can get its wings waterlogged, it should slow down enough for me to finish off!”  
  
“Okay!” Lapis shouted back in confirmation, concentrating as she pulled a great deal of the water off the facility’s floor, launching a great ball of water at it, and ultimately missing. “It’s too fast!”  
  
“I can do something about that!” Pearl said, summoning her spear. She set the tip alight on one of the many braziers, waving it around to draw the moth’s attention. It sped over to her, now solely concentrated on catching the light. “Now, Lapis!” A second ball of water was launched from behind the moth, hitting it squarely in the back as it crashed into the ground uncomfortably close to Pearl, who immediately jumped on it, puncturing it enough to-  
  
With a quick ‘poof’, the moth vanished, and a small, round gem tumbled to the ground.  
  
Pearl fell to her knees, hopelessly. Lapis landed behind her, unsure what to say.  
  
"No..." Pearl sobbed, holding the oval gemstone, its shape and colour matching her own. "No... We couldn't save her... S-She..."  
  
"She was corrupted the whole time." Lapis realised. "At least she wasn't conscious for most of it."  
  
"No... Somehow that's worse..."  
  
"Worse, huh?" Lapis frowned, turning away from Pearl. "You don't know what it's like to be aware that you're trapped, but unable to do anything about it."  
  
"Lapis..." Pearl sighed, tears stinging at her eyes. "You can't... really blame me, though. Gems are supposed to have their personalities wiped when they become power sources like that. We had no idea you were sapient in there. You were supposed to be a mindless object."  
  
"You know Homeworld thinks the same of Pearls." Lapis said.  
  
"Yes." Pearl agreed, choking up. "They do."  
  
"...I'm sorry, Pearl." Lapis sighed.  
  
"I am, too." Pearl said, hugging Lapis back. "...We'd better get back to the others. We still have to save Garnet and Amethyst."

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write this. I felt SO BAD for that Pearl, and... well, I don't think I actually helped anything, but... eh, I hope you enjoyed anyway?  
> And again please don't spoil anything. I haven't actually finished the game, I just played Pearl's chapter, and... well, had to write this.


End file.
